WIP's and Local Yarns

 

Three of my current WIP's: a vest, mittens and shawl. 

 

The vest is the 18 mos. sized Milo - one of my truly favorite baby/toddler knits.  There are so many ways to customize it - I went back and forth on whether to include a stranded color pattern (elephants! flowers! polka dots!) but in the end decided on a simple cable.  I hope to have this one off the needles, on on daughter #4, by tonight.

 

The mittens are a work of art - Wintergreen by Kate Gilbert.  I am making a few modifications to the pattern, however.  Adding a thumb gusset on the side and I'm not twisting the leaf stitches.  I don't think it matters much with such contrasting colors (and makes the knitting go just a hair faster).  They are a labor of love and probably won't be complete for some time.  They are a concentration project - one that I need space and quiet to work on.  It is the second mitten pattern of Kate's that I've knit and I am pleased, yet again, with the intricate design details (first project here).

 

Last is another Simple Yet Effective Shawl, knit up with my own hand dyed yarn.  I have to confess that I had this shawl in mind when I dyed the yarn so I am excited to see it knit up.  I am happy with the colors/striping and hope that it will find just the right recipient this holiday season.

 

Note: the colors in the photo are not very true - it has been gray and rainy these past few days.  Perfect for knitting, but sucky for indoor photography.  That vest, while pink, is more a peachy-pink.  And the base color for those mittens is actually a deep purple.  The shawl colors you can see better in this post about yarn dying.

 

And speaking of WIP's, I just cast-on for a hat last night and owing to the bulky weight of the yarn, am already half-way done.  I am in love with it and will find it hard to part with.  But I know a lucky girl that will get this for a holiday gift (pictured next to it is the yarn to make a matching one for her sister!).  This is a superwash wool, hand-dyed by Liz Avery at The Sow's Ear. 

 

 

Lastly, I am REALLY, REALLY excited because this morning I placed an order for truly local yarn: Finewool Yarn by Five Green Acres.  Mary Jo stewarded this wool from pasture to skein, and has lived the entire process from shearing to cleaning to dying to spinning.  Her First Harvest: Backyard skeins have amazing colorways such as Sugar Maple, Blue Jay and the like.   Check out the yarn for yourself - it has an amazing story.  And Mary Jo?  She's an amazing woman. 

FO: Cap Sleeve Spring Shirt

Another little-ish knit for my 4 yo. 




















This is the girl's cap sleeved spring shirt, by Shellee Floyd, size 6.  It's knit up in a soft, cuddly alpaca/wool blend  which makes about the cutest spring layer in my girls' wardrobe.  I love the way this fits, wears and looks when layered with a long sleeve tee and pants.  Simple, feminine and bold all-in-one.  It does violate one of my own preferences for kid knits though - it's not machine washable.

An interesting note on construction for this tee is that I started out the yoke with a size 6 needle, but changed to an 8 about about 6 inches, and then to a 10 at about 11 inches.  I like that it created a slight flare without having to figure out increasing stitch counts.  The pattern did not call for this much needle changing, but I am happy with the result.




















The baby liked the soft alpaca yarn too!

I am really excited to start on a(nother) cardigan for myself - but am having a hard time committing to a pattern.  I feel a little overwhelmed by all the knitting pattern goodness out there.  Ravelry can be a huge help, however, and I find myself analyzing photos of individual projects - once there's a pattern that catches my eye - to see if I can find one that looks like one I'd knit (color, sizing, etc.).  It's quite helpful for searching out yarn alternatives too.  You'll have to stay tuned to what I pick out for myself next...

In the meantime I've started on Versa, the tunic style, for the older girls and plan to use yarn from the stash.  I have a true rainbow of yarn left overs and there's no better way to use them then in a yoke or as trim!

FO: Milo Vest (long time coming)

I started this vest a long time ago.  I'm talking almost two years ago.  And I finally pulled it from the bottom of my knitting basket to finish it up.  I was on a knitting high from finishing my Vitamin D sweater - which is perfect in almost every way - and I just wanted to keep on knitting. [I'll post photos soon, but need to get someone else to take them while I wear the sweater.]

I was too tired mentally, and creatively, to think about starting a new project.  But there, at the bottom of the basket was this long-neglected vest.  Now is the time I thought.  And I went for it. 

Now that it is done it's a blessing it took me so long to finish it.  It's quite big.  Almost too big for my older girls, but with spring/summer here I should be able to tuck it away until the fall without too much protest from them.  And then, in four months time, it might fit just a little bit better.

The yarn was a gift to me from my Mom - she picked it up during her travels in Ireland.  The yarn is called Blizzard and was made for Tivoli Spinners (manufactured in Turkey), Ireland's leading distributor of yarn.

FO: Baby Things

I had a niece arrive in the world a week ago today.  And I knew I had to make her something.  I started with this holiday vest - but it turned out too big - more of a 6-12 mos. size - so that won't work.  But it is cute for the holidays and made with a great, washable wool.  I'm not sure where this will ultimately wind up; into the gift pile it goes.

And upon looking through my knitting basket for inspiration I spied a bit of Manos I had left over from a hat I made myself a couple years ago.

And it was just the right amount to make my new niece a hat.  This is another version of the Hospital Hat.  And even though it is 100% wool (Wool Classico) it isn't scratchy in the least.

I am off to finish the rest of the half-done items in my basket.  Is it bad luck to leave strings hanging into the new year?  If so I had better get cranking.  I've a scarf, socks, mittens, hat, another pair of socks, two oven mitts, and a toy lion in the works.  Looks like I have a really good year-end, round-up-the-knitting post coming!

Year-end knitting

My knitting this year was directed by my stash. I gave over creative control to my yarn collection and continually worked to find synergy between patterns I liked, and the yarn I had on hand. There will be more details about my year in a coming post, but for now I'd like to show off the last three projects from 2010.

These little ornaments were a natural follow-up to my sweater garland. One is going to a yarn-loving friend, and the other to a neighbor that I organized a cookie exchange with.



In November I picked up my copy of the Milo vest pattern and was pleased to see that it gave directions for a vest up to size 6. I quickly cast on with some Tivoli blizzard (resplendent in the pinks, purples and maroons my girls love) and hope to have this for them to wear sometime in the next few months. Progress was stalled by the aforementioned dissertation, pregnancy-induced tiredness, and holiday projects.



The last project of 2010 is likewise unfinished, but is quickly coming together. (I could have saved myself some time and gone up to a size 3 or 4 needle, but as it stands it will be finished with size 2 needles). This is a likeable hat - I love the shaping and the stripes looks pretty good together. It is definitely a hat for a baby boy - is my subconscious telling me something? We decided to wait on finding out the sex of the baby so this one may be for our family, or it will go to a lucky friend in the future. I cast on for this hat on December 30th.



There are two more projects wallowing in the bottom of my knitting basket from 2010. The kimono socks, by Judy Summer, while beautiful, just aren't calling to me at the moment. They are tucked away for another day and will hopefully re-surface at some point (either as finished socks, or frogged yarn for another pattern). The Kaze (translation: wind) vest is likewise just not calling to me. Maybe this would be a good post-childbirth project for myself? Or, if we have a boy, maybe the yarn will be transformed into a future wonderful wallaby.

WIP Wednesday

I have quite a few projects on the needles at the moment! There are the TTL Mystery Socks, the Cobblestone sweater, and this precious vest. The socks are lovely, but require quite a bit of attention from me and so progress has been slow. I really hope to finish off the sweater this week - all it needs is some seaming under the arms and a nice blocking.

The project I'm most excited about at the moment? The Milo vest. I have a nephew due to arrive in the world at the end of the month and I plan to get this shipped off to his parents in the next week or two.

This is the third time I've knit up this vest and I fall in love with it more each time. It's an amazing pattern and a wonderful gift item. I'm knitting this one from Lion Brand Wool-Ease (more stash-busting!) which is great for little ones as it is machine wash and dryable. I'm making a 3-6 mos. size in hopes that he will be able to wear it during the winter months. He will be living in Georgia - certainly warmer than Wisconsin in January - but I do hope he'll get some wear out of it over a onesie.

FO's: Barter Marketplace and Silent Auction

Two quick projects are finished - what a sense of accomplishment! I get a great feeling from finishing larger projects, but quick, little things make you feel like a rockin' knitter.

The first is a cute, cute, cute blue earflap hat that went to Mary Frances (of This is Marzipan) as part of the Barter Marketplace. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - this is a great idea and if you are interested in participating get in touch with Melissa. Not only is it really fun for me to knit for others, but the exchanges among all of us have been very touching. Both of the women I've exchanged with live hundreds of miles from me, yet we each found a way to use the internet (and US postal service) to bridge our distance, share with one another and support each other in our craft.

This hat is knit in cotton and is machine wash and dryable (pattern found here). I also added a few extra rows on the back side of the hat to provide a bit of extra coverage along the neck.



The second is another milo vest (first one here) I knit up for our girls' preschool silent auction. The event is this Friday and I'm happy to report that the vest already has one bidder (and it's not even my husband). So exciting! This is the same machine washable wool/cotton blend yarn I used in a previous project. I added the cable detail for this one and like the way it dresses it up. I also really like the way this garment takes shape - it's knit from the top down and the arms magically appear with a few bound off stitches.

FO: Men's Vest

I finished it!



And it fits him perfectly. It looks great; I'm so happy. The zipper was a bit more challenging than expected, but it's done. I machine sewed it to the vest and then hand sewed the ends with extra care. [The zipper came from Zippersource, a great place to order custom zippers!] For more info. on the project you can check ravelry or here.



The pattern is from an Australian knitting publication - which I borrowed from a friend - and the yarn is an undyed, locally-spun worsted weight wool. I learned a new cast-on technique and how to machine sew in a zipper. Overall a great project, but the challenge to finish was tough. It took under 750 yds. of yarn to knit, which made it an budget-friendly project too, but the zipper was an added expense.

If I were to knit the pattern again I would do an applied i-cord around the armholes as the Italian cast-off is difficult to manage and, I think, unnecessary there. The i-cord would give a nice finished look and match the detailing on either side of the zipper. I would also probably shave a few centimeters off the length of the neck/collar. It's pretty long.

FO: Baby vest

Another baby gift crossed off the list. I think I've almost got them all done. This little cutie is Milo by tikki. The pattern is fantastic: clearly written, lots of size variations and 5 different cable details to choose from. I decided to skip the cable detail for this one as the color is so vibrant. I feared the detail would be lost. The next vest I knit up will be in a solid color and I'll definitely add the cable. It really gives the vest a polished look.

I used a worsted weight wool for this one and think it's sized for 9-18 mos. I'm not good at estimating yardage, but I think it took about 150 yds. of yarn. As always details can be found on ravelry.